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End Animal Killing Contests Like the "Squirrel Slam" in Holley, NY

Did you know that the village of Holley, N.Y., is preparing for another bloodbath Feb. 22, the day it plans to host another Squirrel Slam Day.

Last year when Friends of Animals found out about this annual killing contest/shooting competition in northwestern New York that recruits children and rewards them with prizes after dead squirrels are weighed to determine who killed the heaviest ones, we mobilized supporters and took to the streets to protest the event.

What makes the day even more abhorrent is it is billed a fundraiser for a fire department and semi-automatic rifles are raffled off and cash awards are given as children look on.

Animal killing contests are part of a broader conversation on gun violence. This event comes just a little over a year after a rifle wielding Adam Lanza committed mass murder at an elementary school, and earlier this week, a 12-year-old opened fire at a middle school and an elderly man fatally shot someone because he was text messaging during a movie.

FoA continues to work with New York state Sen. Tony Avella and other legislators to prohibit killing contests in New York and will once again convene on Holley in February to expose the pattern of abuse rampant in Holley.

1. Please view and share our compelling and informative short video documenting our experiences in Holley, N.Y., challenging the Squirrel Slam contest as part of our continued efforts to ban animal killing contests.

2. Visit the Holley Fire Department website at www.holleyfire.com and write to them or call them at 585-638-6884 and tell them it’s not too late to organize a different fundraiser.

3. Ask your state representatives to introduce bills that would ban such events. For New York residents, contact George D. Maziarz who represents the 62nd District, which includes all of Orleans County. Email him at maziarz@nysenate.gov.

Comments

What a sick society has to do this with children involved kill off living creatures just for fun teaching them animal cruelty and abuse Shame on these people who are condoning this They must all have a mental affliction Time it was banned

What a terrible message this sends to children. All animals are precious and should not be killed and especially NOT for prizes. As a Ny'er I feel ashamed. Who can derive pleasure from committing such cruelty? To my mind, only the sick at heart. Put a stop to this madness and leave animals in peace. Want a contest? Slam each other.

I was shocked and horrified to learn of yet ANOTHER killing contest to take place in Holley, New York on February 22, 2014 where SCHOOL-AGE children will be ENCOURAGED and REWARDED for KILLING innocent wildlife in some horrendous excuse for a "fund raiser" called "Squirrel Killing Contest!"

This wanton blood lust MAY NOT BE EXCUSED as "hunting". If in fact "sport killing" is described and defended by "some" as culture-driven behavior, so then may we describe and defend as "culture driven" wife-beating, dog fighting, child sex slavery, and a host of other DEPRAVED violently abusive behaviors that we as Americans claim to ABHOR.

Do not allow the misguided notions of some violence prone individuals to infect the minds of young impressionable children who may be traumatized knowing that squirrels -- the subject of many of their beloved children's stories -- will be wantonly and SADISTICALLY murdered!

Teaching CHILDREN to MURDER innocent friendly forest dwellers is ABHORRENT and UN-AMERICAN!

Please do EVERYTHING possible to put an end to the wanton sadistic barbarism of wildlife "KILLING CONTESTS"

This is nothing but slaughter under the guise of a contest. People like you will never change because you don't have the intelligence to think up a different way of raising money. Get those lazy kids doing something creative instead of handing them a gun like their lazy parents do to pass the time. There's such a thing called creativity which you lack. People with any amount of brain activity can come up with different methods of raising money.